The 80th Anniversary Commemoration of D-Day at the war memorial.
June 17, 2024
On the 6th June 2024 representatives of the Leamington History Group, the Vicar of All Saints Church, Father Christopher Wilson, the Mayor, Councillor Judith Clarke , Matt Western M.P. , the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, other dignitaries and members of the public attended a short service at Leamington’s War memorial to remember all these
William Charles Denis Browne
June 15, 2024
Composer, Conductor, Pianist, Organist and Music Critic (aka The Man Who Buried Rupert Brooke) We are pleased to announce that a Blue Plaque remembering William Browne was unveiled in June 2024 at 23 Lillington Road. Images are at the end of this article. Born in Leamington in 1888 to distinguished Anglo-Irish parents, William was educated
Thomas Taylor Earnshaw, Chief Constable of Royal Leamington Spa 1902-1938
April 23, 2024
T T Earnshaw was born at Rochdale in 1870 and had 13 years’ experience in various policing roles in St Albans, Wakefield and Wigan, where he served as Chief Superintendent, before his appointment as Leamington Chief Constable in 1902. From that year until his death in office in 1938, he was in charge of the
Some famous ‘old boys’ of Leamington College
April 12, 2024
Leamington College has long produced a well-known list of scientists, doctors, academic scholars, inventors and national-level sportsmen, but there are still one or two unsung heroes. Alongside luminaries such as Lytton Strachey, cricketer and biographer of Queen Victoria, Sir Bernard Spilsbury, Sir Frank Whittle, Dennis Enright, poet and academic, Keith Savage, England Rugby Union player,
What’s in a Grave? A 19th century British soldier in Leamington
April 9, 2024
“Sceptre and crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade.” Thus wrote dramatist James Shirley in 1658, reiterating a motif in popular discourse that death renders all lives, irrespective of status, wealth or achievement, equal.[1] But how far is death the great equaliser? Historians, whose
Camouflage Directorate in Leamington Spa, 1939 to 1945
December 30, 2023
At the beginning of the Second World War the government had a great deal to think about. One important decision to be made was about the need to prevent damage and destruction by the enemy of vital factories producing materials for defending the country and waging war and other civilian assets such as power stations.
Fred Mulley
December 15, 2023
Frederick William Mulley, Baron Mulley of Sheffield Park 1918-1995 Fred Mulley was a prominent post-war Labour politician, life-long Trade Union member, Barrister and Economist. He was born in Leamington at the end of the Great War to a family whose maternal ancestors were all involved in farming. Fred’s grandfather Boiles was a waggoner on farms
Robert (Bob) Lee
August 2, 2023
Robert (known as Bob) Lee was born on 16th January 1938. He became a pupil of Leamington College for Boys, from 1949-1956, although he lived at Finham on the outskirts of Coventry. Norman Painting, (aka ‘Phil Archer’ of radio fame) was also a pupil at the College just before Bob was born. In his foreword
Gilbert Hopkins Forest, Pigman, Policeman, Publican
July 13, 2023
A Pigman, Policeman and Publican, the story of Gilbert Hopkins Forest The author, Martin Harrison, is an Ordecomedologist (collector and researcher of Orders, Decorations and Medals). As most British medals are named to the recipient it makes specific research possible, often with interesting results. One such story is that of Gilbert Hopkins Forest whose 1914-18 British War
